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July 4 2012

6:11 PM

Tiger Woods' Nike Method 001 putter has been aboard for
three wins in 2012.

By John Schwarb, PGATOUR.COM

Tiger Woods is retaking his place at the top of the golf
pantheon. His win on Sunday at the AT&T National – his
third in seven starts -- gave him a PGA TOUR-leading three wins on
the season, the FedExCup points lead and solo second place on the
all-time TOUR victory list.

Where is it all coming from? The added “reps”, as
Woods frequently cites? The work with swing coach Sean Foley? The
weather? (Tiger’s an especially strong player in the
heat.)

The answer may be simpler than that. He’s simply rolling
the ball better.

Woods was ninth at Congressional in Strokes Gained-Putting with
his Nike Method 001 putter, picking up nearly a shot and a half on
the greens for the week. He’s now 14th in Strokes
Gained-Putting for the year and 11th in Total Putting, a stat that
combines putting averages from various distances.

“I feel like I really controlled the putter well this
week,” Woods said. “I had a lot of good putts, and I
had a lot of -- for some reason I had a lot of putts that were
downhill, big, breaking putts. I hit a lot of good putts this
week.”

The Method putter features Nike’s polymetal groove
technology, which gets the ball rolling with forward spin more
quickly after impact.

Woods wasn’t the only one with a big week at AT&T with
a Method 001. Jhonattan Vegas finished T4, his best of the
season.

D2 DEBUTS: Titleist unveiled its new 913 drivers
for pros at AT&T, and 14 of the 34 players who teed up Titleist
drivers in competition used the new models.

Seung-Yul Noh, using a 7.5-degree 913D3, finished highest with a
T4, while Nick Watney finished 10th with a 10.5-degree 913D3.
Brendon de Jonge, the 54-hole leader at Congressional, ended tied
for 11th with his 9.5-degree 913 D3.

The newest members of Titleist’s 900 family
(“9” is the designation for metalwoods and
“13” is the model year) feature some cosmetic
differences and a weight cartridge at the rear of the clubhead.
Like the previous 910 models, Titleist’s SureFit Tour hosel
helps a player dial in the ideal lie and loft.

There are two models, the D2 and D3, with the D2 having a
slightly bigger head. Of the 14 pros at AT&T, 11 played the D3
and three (Bud Cauley, Tom Gillis and John Merrick) chose the
D2.

Rory McIlroy put an 8.5-degree 913D3 at the Irish Open,
finishing in a tie for 10th.

BEER!: For those of you who consider beer as
essential “equipment” for your weekend rounds,
there’s a new brew inspired by Sam Snead.

Slammin’ Sam is a craft-brewed American lager developed
off a proprietary recipe and made in Wisconsin by Stevens Point
Brewery. It debuts this week at The Greenbrier Resort, which is
hosting the PGA TOUR’s Greenbrier Classic.

“It makes sense for Slammin’ Sam beer to be
introduced here,” said Jeff Kmiec, president and managing
director of The Greenbrier Resort. “Sam Snead called The
Greenbrier his professional home for more than 60 years and I think
he’d be happy to know guests will savor a beer that bears his
nickname.”

The beer’s packaging features famous images of Snead and
is available in cans, bottles and kegs. The company plans to launch
the product soon at other golf resorts around North America.

For more information, check out a fun Q&A with the founder
of Slammin’ Sam
here.

LOOKING AT LYTHAM: Justin Rose and Justin Leonard
had new hybrids built in the TaylorMade truck at Congressional,
purposely for the British Open later this month. Rose got a
16-degree Rescue 11, designed for him to hit piercing shots in the
wind. Leonard got two 17-degree Rescue 11s and compared the two
during practice rounds at Congressional.

BITS: Martin Laird put a new TaylorMade Ghost
Spider IB belly putter in play at Congressional, replacing his
longtime Ghost Tour DA-12 belly model. He finished T11. …
John Mallinger also finished T11 at AT&T, playing a new set of
TaylorMade Tour Preferred MC irons. He’s moving away from an
older model of TP irons which had “pretty dead”
grooves, in his words. … Kevin Stadler had never played a
5-wood but tested a Callaway Razr Fit model and liked how it fit a
gap between his 3-wood and hybrid. He tested it, found that he
could hit his standard high cut with it, and put it in play at
AT&T.